March 1704 (7)
= La Gloire du Roi - March 1704 = Weather this month *Rainfall in the East Indies. Events Of Importte Pertaining To Recent Matters Munich *Pope Clement XI has left Munich for Rome, in doing so he sent his blessings upon the loyal lambs of Christ in Bavaria and all Germany. Before departing he held mass and reconsecrated the Dom zu Unserer Lieben Frau to the glory of God. His Holiness also gave his blessing to the child Clemens August being a priest-in-waiting so that when he comes of age he may be ordained. He also declared that the child, on coming of age and being ordained, may serve God as the next Archbishop of Liege- Cologne. After mass His Holiness was escorted by soldiers of the Guardias Espagnol who proferred alms purses to some of the poor lining the way. That evening there followed a banquet and ball at Nymphenburg Palace to which senior officers, diplomats and other nobles attended. His Highness the Elector of Bavaria craved and held a private meeting in a side room with His Holiness as well as with Archbishop Joseph as the evening wore on. *Prior to leaving for Cologne, Archbishop Joseph Clemens of Liege-Cologne has declared it to be his wish and will that August Clemens be his heir in the ecclesatical and temporal office of Archbishop-Prince of Liege-Cologne, on the understanding that he must be made an ordained priest first, and be approved - as he has - by His Holiness Pope Clement XI. *A competition has been announced for a new composition for a Bayerischer Defiliermarsch with 5,000 gulden prize money being offered for the best march. Maestro's have until 20th August 1706 to get in their entry to the Bavarian Court! *Count d'Arco has announced the establishment of a new military award, the Eisemed Kreuz. This has a heraldic cross pattern design (the iron cross) of silver lined blue, and is issued in orders of merit (2nd class, 1st class, Grand Cross). The Grand Cross cannot be earned without first earning the 1st class, the 1st class cannot without first earning the 2nd class merit. Stuttgart *Duke Eberhard Ludwig of Wurtemburg has revealed that his duchy possesses no spare grain at this moment in time to convey to others, and really does not feel minded to part with recruits since the threat to his realm 'as outlined in January remains real and has not been denied.' Zurich *Karl Anton Am Rhyn has revealed that at the moment 10 battalions of foot and eight squadrons of dragoons are available for hire by the Swiss Cantons to any interested party. "These Swiss will serve as mercenaries to the highest bidder, but the base offer must be at least 1,800,000 cruzados or 180,000 guineas a year," he explained. Charles Town *Hundreds of French Huguenots have fled to Charles Town, some say in order to avoid facing the horror of Louis XIV's France again, others just say it is true that more of them than now live have died of neglect before reaching this sanctuary. Perhaps the two are linked - has Louis XIV systematically seen these Protestants done to death? Charles Town is already dominated by emigre French Huguenots, who were horrified to hear of the troubles which their brothers and sisters had endured before reaching here. To their minds it was all very reminiscent of what happened when Louis revoked the Edict of Nantes. Cairo *Ambassador Umit Bilirgen has asked Bey Huseyin of Egypt whether he will allow Anatolia and a foreign power to open a mission at the north end of the proposed canal, in order to build ladle dredgers which would be used in the construction of this new canal? Dresden *The siege of Dresden appears to have stalled this month with no progress being made, although effectively the city remains under blockade. *The Saxon Army of Relief has marched away from the vicinity of the siege - it left in the direction of Chemnitz. The Prince of Vaudemont's cuirassiers were in the way, but worried by the physical state of his men and their morale Vaudemont moved his command out of the way, thankful to see the Saxons leave the area. The Bristol Channel *The 2nd French Logistics Fleet sailed slowly into the Bristol Channel with five frigates in the van leading 15 transports. The captains were alarmed to find English Royal Navy frigates ahead, and behind them in line ahead formation 28 ship of the line under Admiral Price. The French reaction was to boxhaul around, which threw their formation into confusion as each captain sought to have his ship escape as they turned to starboard not far off Ilfracombe. Soon they were heading for Lundy Island with the wind blowing down from the north. The English battle line was still far off but Rear-Admiral Huntsmen's line of 18 frigates put on sail to close the gap which they managed to do off Lundy (or at least 15 of the ships did!). This resulted in a general chase, the brave captains of the five French frigates deliberately holding back to give the transports time to make headway and escape. In the ship-to-ship exchanges it soon became clear that the French vessels were being out-sailed and out-shot by the larger English cruisers. Realising that destruction would be the only outcome nevertheless the brave French squadron fought on, declining to strike colours. The arrival of the English main line of battle settled the issue once for all. Eventually all five were pulverised into wrecks, so much flotsam and jetsam (it appears that even if the French had desired to surrender, Hunstmen and Price intended to destroy their ships rather than take them as prizes). Their sacrifice enabled the transports to get clean away. Off Goteborg *Graves's 1st Baltic Fleet bore down on Contre-Amiral Rene Duguay-Trouin's ships. Trouin, aware that his ships were be either destroyed or captured if he stayed where he was and engaged the enemy, and so ordered all ships to make for the Swedish port of Goteborg! Major-General Baron Carl Roos, Governor of Goteborg found himself powerfless to prevent the Dunkirkers from sailing into port, even if he wanted to do so. Graves, frustrated by what he calls 'Trouin's cheek!' Stood off the port, not willing to cause an international incident by entering or opening fire on a neutral kingdom's port (Goteborg belongs to the King of Sweden). After a few more days inaction the vice-admiral concluded that he was wasting his time and sailed his fleet away on a westerly course. In Goteborg the Dunkirkers have thrown overboard large quantities of ammunition! Velha Goa *The fleet of Commodore Bappoo in its entirety has been set alight and gone up in flames in the ex-Portuguese colony of Goa! The garrison was turned out, but it appeared that no attack was underway and confusion reigned as the sailors, led by Bappoo, fled into the interior of the island of Goa and effectively deserted the service of the Maharaj of the Maharatas! Chatham *Arriving outside of Chatham the 1st Army of England commanded by the Duke of Marlborough found the fortress under the French flag and so held against them. The French closed the gates just in time, having allowed in a Swiss battalion which had marched off in the direction of Greenwich but had retired in haste on seeing what was coming against them! The 1st Army made camp and is preparing to prosecute a siege to liberate Chatham! The defenders can see that this field army numbers 36 battalions of foot, 58 squadrons of horse, and 10 artillery batteries. *There were skirmishes within Chatham with raids being carried out by marines from the English ships still in the harbour against the French defenders. *Off Chatham at sea boats attempted to put recruits on the White Division of the Home Fleet, and while they were coming on board French sails were spotted in large number to the east! In haste the operation was ended and as the French came closer Rear-Admiral Revering had his ships clear decks for action and brought up their anchors. His heart sank as he saw the extent of the enemy combined fleets! The French came on in three line ahead formations with a plethora of vessels to stern who were not in the lines of battle. The Home Battle Fleet on the French right numbered 23 ship of the line under Vice-Admiral Phelypeaux, in the centre was the Mediterranean Battle Fleet of 23 more lineships commanded by the Comte de Toulouse. Finally to the port of that fleet was the Invasion Escort Fleet of 60 lineships under the pennant of the Prince of Conde (who however was feeling ill and below decks leaving the Prefect of Calais in charge). As the French bore down from the west with the wind blowing from the north-east causing their stately progress to be quite slow under reduced battle sail. This gave Revering time to consider his options, and upon deciding that to stay and follow his orders to the letter would involve his Division's utter loss, chose instead to be disobedient and withdraw down the Thames to the safety of London. This was achieved without much fuss since his ships in these conditions proved able to put on more knots than the French, who contended themselves with taking up station off Chatham. Yorktown *"It is up to use to defend ourselves!" claimed John Henry, a visitor to Yorktown told those who would listen in the market square. He was however having difficulty getting people to listen to him - perhaps on account of what sounds like a French accent? Despite this wariness of him as a stranger, some did dare listen a bit as he told them, "Since we have been left to the mercies of Jacobites... if Government cannot defend themselves, how can we expect them to defend us?" He is calling for the people to resist the ‘dishonourable Spanish who are taking advantage of good honest Americans by stealing our markets.' "The colonies are built on hard work, honesty and we’re at risk now of losing our liberties and our lives whilst a lazy and feeble government does near nothing to defend us." He put it forward that ‘whether Government or the Jacobites win, we will suffer further injustice. Money to pay for this war will come from taxes, and we all know what that means to us!' Despite the wariness of this man he does seem to be tapping into popular opinion in Yorktown, where many are resolved not pay any taxes at all should the Home Government contrive to raise any in the future! St. Thomas Isle *In a shocking turn of events a sloop named Valiant accompanied by a liner known as The Cat arrived off the island of St. Thomas with Swedish colours flying. Sailors then put ashore by rowing boat and went on a wild rampage! The Governor's Mansion was set on fire, and Danish Governor Christian de Bruyn bundled away along with hundreds of his fellow Danes. Captain John Avery (retired) was also most rudely interrupted from his daily nap when his town house was torched, as way a nearby shipyard. Avery, proverbially spitting feathers, was also taken away to sea! Isfahan *Before the most powerful nobles of the realm gathered in the Palace of the Sublime Gate the Shah of Persia, Soltan Hussain, delivered this speech: "It gives me great pleasure to declare that Isfahan and the other cities of Persia now have a supply of clean, fresh water delivered directly from the mountains through the new aqueducts. Allah the beneficient, the merciful has given me and the thousands of workers employed in this momentous task the strength of will power to complete it. Let us all celebrate, this is a day to remember." There followed a banquet while alms were distributed to the poor. El Escorial *Permission has been issued for Captain Roger Martel, also known as Rodrigo Martello, to visit the royal court of Spain. *The Royal Council of Spain has heard from agricultural experts that the division of land amongst all sons is resulting in farms too small to support a family in the event of a poor harvest. The government of Charles Hapasburg, being unwilling to change the inheritance laws has however now provided funds to buy up tiny plots, especially those of famine victims, so they can be merged into bigger farms suitable for horse and oxen plouging and hoeing. People with only small plots, who only get through famine with the help of the Church or corporations, are being offered cash and bigger farms on long leases with pepper-corn rents in the San Francisco area, or in the Viceroyalty of La Plata. The new farms in the Americas are to be enclosed and suitable for more effective farming using horsedrawn ploughs and hoes. London & Amsterdam *A clerk of the Slave Trade Controller's Office has gone missing in London. Mister Robert Julius was last seen walking down by the Thames with his collar up and this tricorne hat slung low over his face. His desk has revealed a most curious thing - lots of sheets on which were passable to bad renditions of the signature of John Somers... *Later in the month Mister Julius turned up in Amsterdam, where he spoke in a quavering voice regarding French atrocities in England causing him to flee for his life. *Back in London, Ms. Belle Watling did her best to recover the body of her late friend De Coursey, which she managed and had him buried in the graveyard of St. Mark's parish church. Why was he murdered in gaol, she asked some of the inmates with some anguish, but alas none were able to say (or were to scared to do so, lest they be next?). However, she was passed this letter, the sole possession found upon his person at the point of his demise: Dear Lords, A very good year to you all and I can report that the Company has excelled itself with a very fair increase in turnover. Yet our investment and capitalisation over the previous three years have led to a very complicated arrangement of share issues and we would like to consolidate and simplify our issued shares. This will allow other investors to join you and for current investors to increase their holdings in the Company with confidence. The aim is to be fair to all shareholders, simplify our shareholding to one consolidated ordinary share which will simplify dividend entitlements. It is expected that these will increase in the future. Future capital will be raised through rights issues. You are invited to take part in a fully underwritten rights issue later in this letter. Please read the below suggestions and respond to the questions posed by February' 1704. Then in March'1704 it is expected that the Company will re-issue you with a new consolidated share certificate to which any further shares will be added. The board has received an irrevocable undertaking that by simplifying the share structure then the rights issue will be fully underwritten at no cost to the company saving some £100,000. Existing shareholders can by new shares at the price of £1 per £1 share already held. There is no pressure on any shareholder to purchase additional new shares because of the very favourable underwriting arrangement in place. Please vote on the following: 1. To simplify the share structure For/Against. 2. To raise fresh capital through a rights issue For/Against. Shareholders should then send any payment for the additional shares they would like to buy at the rate on £1 per share to HWIC offices to arrive no later than 1st march 1704. New shares will be issued on 10th March 1704 and a breakdown of significant share holdings will be published in the company’s accounts. We thank you for your consideration in this matter and look forward to issuing you with your dividends in the usual way in due course. We look forward to the favour of your replies and I remain your most faithful servant, Chairman and Director of the Honourable West India Company. Peking *Ambassador Liang, on behalf of his lord Yea, has formally asked for Prince Taizong to arrange Lord Yea's marriage to Taizong's daughter Princess Wencheng. "If her age is acceptable to my Lord Yea," a mandarin from Lord Yea added, "we will move forward with marriage plans." Constantinople *The Ottoman Grand Vizier’s office has let it be known publicly that warm relations reign once more between Istanbul and Moldavia. New York *In New York there was joy almost unbounded when the news of the new king was delivered. Sorrow for the passing of his father who had previously stated he would die in the last ditch rather than see England defeated was somewhat muted. Cries of 'Death to the French!' and 'Long live the King!' were even heard by Governor Coote whose actions (or lack of them?) increase the fear of the French and the Jacobites. ldavia. Cadiz *Rodrigo Martello, having purchased a fine townhouse in Cadiz, entertained the local Spanish nobility with grace and gallantry while hinting rather heavily that he would not mind receiving return invitations to their social gatherings. His attentive staff ensured Msr. Martello had a delightful evening, and he has been known as quite the man about town in his new 1704 Spanish fashion luxurious clothes! Indeed it could be said that this gentleman since becoming Spain's Viceroy of Africa has become more a Spaniard than the Spanish! On the following day a man claiming to be a wealthy merchant of Cadiz (although he hardly appears rich) called Luis Ortega sent word to Martello's house inviting him to a reception to be held for the great and the good of the city and will include the naval and military commanders. 'Held to give thanks for the passing of the famine in Spain and the priest who blesses the food will include this in ‘Grace’.' The date of said event has been set at 20th April 1704. However in something of a faux pas Msr. Ortega has neglected to tell anyone his address, so it is not clear where it shall be held... Gloucester & Oxford *The city of Gloucester to the north-east of Bristol has fallen to the French arms of the Marquis de Greder, while Oxford fell to the Marquis de la Guiche. Versailles *The Marquis de Torcy has made it known that sailors are perfectly safe using French ports, 'as the French Navy is a highly professional service which has no need to use such techniques.' Torcy has promised that France will compensate foreign merchants who suffer attacks from English ships whilst carrying out their legitimate trading business in French ports. In addition, financial incentives have been paid out to merchants to entice them into using French ports. These - along with De Torcy's assurrances - appear to have had the intended effect of returning trade to these ports. *The royal government of France has also announced the repeal of the 1703 Emergency Law No.1 which forced domestic French grain prices to be fixed to prefamine level to prevent profiteering. Since the famine is over, the law is now considered unnecessary. Furthermore, 200,000 louis d'or has been made available as a grain subsidy to purchase grain landed in France and handed over (the assumed price of sale being 1 louis d'or per ton). People being Much Admired by the Best in Société *The Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I *Lord Yea Of The Shantung Province Of The Heavenly Celestial Manchu Empire *Mihail Racovita, Hospdar Prince Of Moldavia *Cardinal Portocarrero Of The Council Of State, Bishop Of Toledo, King Of Spain’S Treasurer *King Louis Xiv Of France, The Sun King *Maharaj-Prince Shrimant Rajaram Of The Maharatas *Roger Martel Of The Honourable West India Company, Spain’S Viceroy Of Africa *King Thalun Toungoo Of Burma Shipping Lists: Being a Reporte on Knowne Shipping Movements *None. Lloyds Lists: Being a Reporte on Knowne Shipping Losses from Causes Unknowne or Knowne *None. Ambassadorial Appointments *Sent by Genoa to Spain, Santino Maidalchini, to France, Marcantonio Cesti, toAustria, Giovanni Crescimberi, and to the Papacy,Allessandro Stradella. Trade Missions Opened *By Genoa in Milan, Havana, Manila, and Portobello. *By Msr. Martello in Buenos Aires, and in Marseilles (called a "food office"). Automatically parsed by LGDRParser v1.0 Category:Game 7